Dark Souls 2 (PC/PS4/XB1/PS3/360)

[Kuishen]

A video that's more harsh than anything Souj or I have said but brings out even more valid points about some of the flawed design decisions in a methodical manner.

Disclaimer: It's not a review, it's a critique, so he's literally just listing off disappointments and more importantly, some of the completely ass-backwards logic behind why those disappointments exist. Which was the main thing I enjoyed. He still acknowledges some of the improvements but only to point out how stupid some of the other design choices are.


EDIT: I disagree with him on some things, like the rat covenant, which is just awesome, but what he suggested as an alternative would have been cool too. Also a couple of the things are super nitpicky and didn't bother me but whatevs, like the gender thing and the bloodshot eye effect.

EDIT: Also the comments on this on reddit are priceless.

Man, this community went full retard. It's different? OMG BURN THE DEVELOPERS. If it's what all these people are asking for it'd be OMG ITS THE SAME GAME REHASHED. I come from playing ds1 on the pc, holy crap it sucked complete butthole, yet I still loved it because the community was positive. Now, I see nothing but clowns and negative nancies running around on nostalgia drugs comparing the crackers they had when they were starving for new games to a cracker they had after eating 123123131 crackers.

Blows my fucking brain that people also continue to use the "rose colored glasses/nostalgia" response whenever anybody posts anything negative. Bitch I played DkS right up until 2 came out, shut the fuck up with that nonsense.

[Darkmagi]

I really do love the game, but that guy did have a lot of good points. I never really thought about the level connection, but the earthen peak to iron keep thing just made me angry.

[Elcura]

I feel you with the plot in DkS2. While 1 didn't have an amazing plot (personally I felt they got weaker as the games go on) it at least made sense in a progression sense. Pretty much after arriving at Majula you have little idea what's going on or why, especially when you get to Vendrick and Nashandra, then the game ends lol.

The rest (minus the enemy tracking) didn't bother me much at all, though the level design stuff (from a visual standpoint) I agree with. DkS1 made such effort with connection I just didn't feel in 2.

[gaira]

i think 1 falls apart some after lordvessel, just as 2 does after shrine of winter, at least in terms of storyline in both games. one thing i do agree with in that video is that 2 seems to half-ass between bringing new ideas to the series and paying homage to what everyone loved most about 1, thereby falling short in doing both at once.

regardless, i'm still having fun playing 2 despite its flaws, and i feel that i most certainly got my money's worth.

[Charismatic]

i think 1 falls apart some after lordvessel, just as 2 does after shrine of winter, at least in terms of storyline in both games. one thing i do agree with in that video is that 2 seems to half-ass between bringing new ideas to the series and paying homage to what everyone loved most about 1, thereby falling short in doing both at once.

regardless, i'm still having fun playing 2 despite its flaws, and i feel that i most certainly got my money's worth.

How, exactly, does 1 fall apart in terms of "story" after the Lordvessel?
You're definitely gonna need to go into detail if you say that 'cause its not like DkS1 has a complex story to begin with and nothing about it really changes at that point.

[Souj]

"King Vendrick should have defended his kingdom by building bigger doorways." LOL


he said 'more doorways,' but in the context, I assume he meant bigger.

watching this last video review posted just makes me want to play DS1 more lol. DS2 really is a disappointment*.
*but still better than a lot of other games.

[gaira]

yeah that didn't come across quite like i meant it. my interest in 1 starts to fall off after anor londo every time i replay it. same thing for shrine of winter. so maybe the areas you end up in as a result of the story at that point, with the exceptions of dragon aerie and painted world.

[Charismatic]

he said 'more doorways,' but in the context, I assume he meant bigger.

No, he meant more.
Remember that they were fighting against the giants?

Just toss some doorways in there and you good.

[Souj]

No, he meant more.
Remember that they were fighting against the giants?

Just toss some doorways in there and you good.

Oops yeah. I assumed it was the armored giant dudes trying to defend the place from you.

[gaira]

one of the coolest mods for pc dks1 was the one that made all mobs aggressive and not leashed to their initial spawn point. wouldn't solve that problem (and shouldn't entirely anyway) of using environmental obstacles to fight some mobs, but the leashing always bothered me a bit. bleak world, everyone and everything out to kill you, but not enough to chase you more than a few paces outside of their territory.

[killerx]

I'm in the undead crypt sl 111 with a sm of 2,232,328 am I just totally under leveled and lost to many souls at the start feeling kind of lost for some reason like I did something wrong

[Darkmagi]

That area should be a joke after shrine of amana, probably doinitwrong somehow.

[Kuishen]

"King Vendrick should have defended his kingdom by building bigger doorways." LOL


he said 'more doorways,' but in the context, I assume he meant bigger.

watching this last video review posted just makes me want to play DS1 more lol. DS2 really is a disappointment*.
*but still better than a lot of other games.

You got any tips on beating 4 Kings with my h2h character? I simply can't kill them fast enough and I can't find anybody to summon for help, and Beatrice dies too quickly.

My gear is +5 Dragon Bone Fist, Shadow set with various upgrade levels, Dark Wood Grain ring. Around 780 HP, plenty of endurance and STR. Also using whichever crest shield has the highest magic reduction, though I rarely block and just dodge.

Having a high AGI character in 2 has completely ruined my dodging, even with the DWG ring in 1.

[Souj]

Summoning Beatrice is a no no for that fight period. She's horrible and giving 4kings more hp is definitely no help.
I know I beat 4 kings with Dragon Fists (I beat the game with a fist character and took pictures of my Shoryukening all the bosses) I just dont remember what I used.
I'd recommend Power Within though, for a start. And I think I used the grass shield just for stamina recovery +

When I get home I can dig through my steam screenshots to see what I was wearing, unless you just want to dig through the Ds1 thread yourself to find them. I think I posted it. Maybe I didnt lol
Alternatively you could dig through my steam pics. I think my steam name is burnssogood. Its been awhile lol...

[Kuishen]

I didn't even think about that Pyromancy... That should probably be enough to push me over the edge after I readjust to how dodging works in 1.

[Souj]

I was using Havel's Legs, Havel's Gloves, the Witch head piece you find at Ceaseless that I can't remember the name of, no shirt, and the Baldur Shield. I don't know if I actually used Power Within or not. I know I wasn't using it in the pic below, but that was because I couldn't be messing around trying to land a Shoryuken.

Spoiler: show

http://cloud-3.steampowered.com/ugc/...7320840A17E11/

Later I switched it up for looks.
http://cloud-4.steampowered.com/ugc/...BAADF6BFEFE56/


http://cloud-4.steampowered.com/ugc/...13C24D92F1A0D/


Game ending Shoryuken.
http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/...351F34C55A13C/

My favorite Shoryuken pic.
http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/...6620D450C21E6/

Fuck. Now I really do feel like playing Dark Souls 1 again.

[Hatedregret]

Iron Flesh and just beat them in the head without dodging shit.

[Kuishen]

I always assumed Iron Flesh doesn't do shit for them since the majority of their shit is magic damage.

EDIT: Yeah, it doesn't. Awful suggestion.

EDIT: Beat them, I'm not sure how I'll do it on NG+ (if I play this char for that long), but whatever at least I can do them last next time since I wanted into Darkwraiths ASAP.

[Hatedregret]

Iron Flesh may have gotten a patch, but it always worked for me. I was able to not dodge anything and just swing even in ng+

Edit: It did get a nerf. A large one.

[Souj]

What does consuming a soul vessel do? Does it start you back off at SL1? It could be useful for special runs later.